SANSan Diego
When is TSA security busiest at San Diego airport (SAN)?
TSA's counts over 175 days, 22 March to 24 October 2026, put San Diego airport's busiest hour at 5 am, with the counts falling away after 3 pm. San Diego (SAN) publishes no live wait time, so this page carries no number for right now.
How busy San Diego airport security usually is
People screened per hour at each checkpoint, averaged over 175 days of TSA counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026. Green is that checkpoint's quiet hours, red its peak. Find your checkpoint and look along the row for green.
| Checkpoint | 4a | 6a | 7 am, now | 8a | 10a | 12p | 2p | 4p | 6p | 8p | 10p | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal 1 Checkpoint | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Terminal 2 East Checkpoint | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Terminal 2 West Checkpoint |
Tap a cell for its count.
Quiet for this checkpointIts busiest hourclosed or no count
On the counted days San Diego airport screened passengers from 4 am to 9 pm. Across San Diego airport the busiest hour is 5 am and the counts fall away after 3 pm. Terminal 1 Checkpoint and Terminal 2 West Checkpoint screen 76 percent of the people TSA counts at San Diego airport, Terminal 1 Checkpoint alone 39 percent. Every checkpoint peaks before noon. TSA counts people, not minutes, so this shows when a checkpoint is loaded, not how long you will stand in it.
Checkpoints and terminals at San Diego airport
What San Diego says on its own site, in our words, with the page each fact comes from and the day we read it. Airports move airlines and lanes, so check the linked page before you fly.
Where the checkpoints are
Each terminal has its own gates and checkpoints, and the Inter-Terminal Shuttle runs between them. Terminal 1 has one checkpoint, after ticketing. Terminal 2 has an East and a West checkpoint, used according to where the airline is. From san.org, read 15 October 2026.
PreCheck and CLEAR lanes
PreCheck is in both terminals. From san.org, read 15 October 2026.
Which terminal each airline uses
The site does not say which Terminal 2 checkpoint serves which airline. From san.org, read 15 October 2026.
- Terminal 1
- Air Canada, Breeze, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, Sun Country, WestJet
- Terminal 2
- Alaska, American, British Airways, Copa, Delta, Hawaiian, Japan Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, United
Which day San Diego airport is busiest
Sunday is San Diego airport's busiest day of the week, about 45,000 people screened on an average one, 37 percent more than Tuesday, the quietest.
| Rank | Day | People a day | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunday | 45,094 | 23 |
| 2 | Monday | 41,137 | 23 |
| 3 | Thursday | 40,574 | 23 |
| 4 | Friday | 40,553 | 23 |
| 5 | Wednesday | 35,128 | 25 |
| 6 | Saturday | 33,735 | 23 |
| 7 | Tuesday | 32,952 | 23 |
People screened at San Diego airport on an average day of each kind, from TSA's counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026, with the days around each holiday left out.
Which month San Diego airport is busiest
Every month at San Diego airport came within 13 percent of the busiest, July, at about 42,000 people a day. October, the latest month counted, ran 7 percent below July.
| Rank | Month | People a day | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July | 42,176 | 13 |
| 2 | March | 41,329 | 10 |
| 3 | June | 39,777 | 13 |
| 4 | August | 39,521 | 31 |
| 5 | October | 39,180 | 17 |
| 6 | September | 37,422 | 30 |
| 7 | April | 36,933 | 30 |
| 8 | May | 36,773 | 31 |
People screened at San Diego airport on an average day of each month, holidays included, from TSA's counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026. March, June, July, and October rest on 10, 13, 13, and 17 counted days.
How San Diego airport ran over the holidays
Each day around a holiday against the same day of the week in the three weeks either side, so the season does not read as the holiday. Thanksgiving and Christmas 2026 are not in TSA's counts yet; they run to 24 October 2026.
Memorial Day 2026
Thursday 21 to Tuesday 26 May: the busiest day was Monday 25 May, 45,101 people, 15 percent above the Mondays around it. Sunday 24 May was the lightest for its day of the week, 21 percent below the Sundays around it.
Labor Day 2026
Thursday 3 to Tuesday 8 September: the busiest day was Monday 7 September, 49,856 people, 24 percent above the Mondays around it. Sunday 6 September was the lightest for its day of the week, 21 percent below the Sundays around it.
Questions people ask
How busy is San Diego airport today?
San Diego publishes no live wait time, so there is no number for today. By TSA's counts 7 am is usually a middling hour at San Diego airport, about 2,700 people an hour across its checkpoints against 3,600 at the 5 am peak. On a normal day San Diego airport screens about 39,000 people, 19th of the 432 airports TSA counts; its largest checkpoint is Terminal 1 Checkpoint, with 39 percent of them.
When is TSA security at San Diego airport quietest?
Over the 175 counted days, 22 March to 24 October 2026, San Diego airport checkpoints screened the most people at 5 am. Between the rushes the counts are lowest at 8 am, and they fall away after 3 pm. Each row of the map above is one checkpoint scaled to its own peak, so its green hours are the ones to aim for. Counts say when a checkpoint is loaded, not how long the line is.
What time does TSA open at San Diego airport?
Over the 175 counted days, 22 March to 24 October 2026, San Diego airport screened passengers from 4 am to 9 pm. These are the hours TSA counted people, not San Diego airport's published checkpoint hours. Check the airport's own page before an early flight.
What is the busiest day of the week at San Diego airport?
Sunday is San Diego airport's busiest day of the week, about 45,000 people screened on an average one, 37 percent more than Tuesday, the quietest. Averaged over 163 days of TSA counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026, with the days around each holiday left out.
Which month is busiest at San Diego airport?
Every month at San Diego airport came within 13 percent of the busiest, July, at about 42,000 people a day. October, the latest month counted, ran 7 percent below July. Averaged over 175 days of TSA counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026. March, June, July, and October rest on 10, 13, 13, and 17 counted days.
How busy does San Diego airport get on a holiday weekend?
Memorial Day 2026, Thursday 21 to Tuesday 26 May: the busiest day was Monday 25 May, 45,101 people, 15 percent above the Mondays around it. Sunday 24 May was the lightest for its day of the week, 21 percent below the Sundays around it. Labor Day 2026, Thursday 3 to Tuesday 8 September: the busiest day was Monday 7 September, 49,856 people, 24 percent above the Mondays around it. Sunday 6 September was the lightest for its day of the week, 21 percent below the Sundays around it. Each day is set against the same day of the week in the three weeks either side. Thanksgiving and Christmas 2026 are not in TSA's counts yet; they run to 24 October 2026.
Does San Diego airport publish a live TSA wait time?
No. San Diego publishes no live wait time, so this page carries no number for right now and never predicts one. The national page ranks the 23 airports whose live number waittimes.io reads.
Does PreCheck have a shorter line at San Diego airport?
San Diego airport publishes no lane-by-lane wait time, so there is no PreCheck number to compare. TSA's counts are per checkpoint and do not separate PreCheck from standard lanes; the map above shows when each checkpoint is loaded, whichever lane you join.
Other airports
Every covered airport, ranked by its line right now, is on the national page, with the airports that have no live number here under it. The busiest airports by people screened lists every code TSA counts.
ATL, BOS, BWI, CLE, CLT, DAL, DCA, DFW, DTW, EWR, IAH, JAX, JFK, LGA, MCO, MIA, MSP, PHL, PHX, PIT, SEA, SFO, SLC
Where the numbers come from
- Wait times
- San Diego publishes none.
- Usual busyness
- TSA's own hourly passenger counts per checkpoint, published weekly in its FOIA reading room. This page uses 175 days of counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026. Public domain.
- Checkpoints and airlines
- Read once on San Diego's own site and linked beside each fact, with the day it was read. Never from another site.
- Who reads them
- Arcane Digital, which runs waittimes.io, reads every feed every 10 minutes with its own collector and stores the time of each read. The day's reads are checked every night for a feed that has stopped or thinned, and one person reads that report the next morning. Nobody types a number in.
- What we never do
- Predict a wait in minutes, or show an old number as if it were current.
- Every feed
- How each one is read, the TSA counts and who to write to: the sources page.